Court of Appeal lifts stay on court ruling that fast track asylum appeals system is unlawful

Lord Justice Sullivan has today ruled that the stay on the judgment in Detention Action v First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) & Ors [2015] EWHC 1689 (Admin) is to be lifted, BBC News reported.

Image credit: WikipediaThat ruling found the Fast Track appeals process, used for speeding up asylum applications, is unlawful and "structurally unfair".

While Justice Nicol said the Fast Track Rules must be quashed, he put a stay on his order taking effect to give the Lord Chancellor and Home Secretary time to appeal his decision to the Court of Appeal.

Detention Action today went to the Court of Appeal to get the stay lifted.

According to the BBC, Lord Justice Sullivan allowed Detention Action's appeal and said the stay is lifted "as from now".

Neil Garnham QC, counsel for the Secretary of State, told the Court that the Government did not oppose the lifting of the stay.

As a result, Detention Action says the Home Office can no longer impose the tight Fast Track deadlines on asylum seekers making appeals in detention. Asylum seekers can no longer be detained throughout the asylum process simply for claiming asylum.

Detention Action's director, Jerome Phelps, said: "We are delighted that asylum-seekers will no longer face a detained appeals process that is so unfair as to be unlawful. It is unfortunate that it has taken so many court rulings to finally suspend this deeply flawed process. People seeking protection from war and persecution deserve better from British justice. We hope that the government will take this opportunity to reflect and develop a different approach that is fair."

BBC News notes that the government will still be able to appeal against the High Court's overall ruling that the system is unlawful.